


Crush

by MiraMara



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-01-22 01:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12470112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraMara/pseuds/MiraMara
Summary: Marinette wants to know if Chat Noir has a crushFluff ensues





	1. Chapter 1

Chat Noir sat on the chaise lounge, legs splayed, with Marinette snuggled between them, focused completely on the knitting needles in her hand, the click clacking of the metal on metal soothing in the quiet of the room.

Chat contentedly braided her hair before releasing it, twisting it into randomised patterns and allowing the silken strands to slip between his clawed fingers. He wished he could feel how soft her hair was, but contented himself with the peacefulness of the moment.

"Chat?" Marinette broke the silence, startling the hero from his musings. He hummed in response, continuing his ministrations.

"Do you have a crush on anyone?" she asked, still diligently knitting away. Chat stopped what he was doing, staring incredulously at the back of her head. Didn't the whole of Paris already know?

"Well, yeah," he agreed finally, picking strands of her hair up again to plait.

"Have you ever confessed your feelings?" she continued, starting a new line on whatever she was creating. Chat hadn't thought to ask what it was she was knitting.

"I... uh... not in so many words," Chat allowed, scrunching up his nose. "I'm more of an actions speak louder kind of a guy. I mean, I try to show Ladybug," he didn't notice how Marinette's shoulders stiffened on hearing the hero's name, "that she is the most important person in the world to me. It's why I always take every hit, I couldn't bare to see her get hurt. I love her. So I flirt with her, and compliment her, and try to spend as much time as I can with her. I wish I knew who she was under the mask so that I knew all of her."

Marinette shifted round to face him, putting her needles to the side.

"B-but you don't know... so how can you say you love her?"

Chat shook his head, his brows drawn in concentration.

"I'm not the same behind the mask. I'm not brash, or loud, or flirtatious. I suspect maybe it's the same for her. Maybe she's not as confident, not as confrontational, not as graceful. When I first met her, she introduced herself as 'Madly Clumsy'. But, her heart is the same. She's still brave, because even when she was afraid, she stepped up to do the right thing for the good of Paris. She's kind and cares about me, even if it's not in the same way. I don't think any of that would go away just because she takes off her costume," he finished. Chat felt strangely lighter having said all this out loud.

"What if she turns out to be Chloe Bourgeois?" Marinette, pulling a face that made Chat laugh. Then he sighed.

"If she were, then I guess I have to believe that deep down, Chloe is those things too. That maybe the Chloe that everyone sees, the Chloe that has caused more akumas than the rest of Paris combined, the Chloe that bullies classmates and hangs off Adrien Agreste like a limpet, really is a good person," he smirked at Marinette playfully. "Luckily for me, I know for a fact she isn't. I've dealt with Ladybug and Chloe together."

Marinette looked down at her lap, her face a mask of so many emotions, Chat couldn't identify any of them.

"What about you, Princess, any boy vying to take your attention away from this needy cat?"

Marinette looked over to her wall, where her posters of Adrien used to be, before the needy cat had started paying her visits, sneaking in via her balcony and straight into her heart.

"I used to like Adrien Agreste," she admitted, smiling softly to herself and leaning back, snuggling against Chat's broad chest.

At the mention of his alter ego, Chat had frozen stiff, shocked at the revelation, but allowing himself to melt into her, nuzzling her sweet smelling hair. He loved the easy friendship that had developed with Marinette with him as Chat Noir. She was the one person who he could tell anything to, and have her actually listen. Completely comfortable with each other, physical, platonic intimacy was common for them, and his cat like nature (as well as the unloved boy) craved the contact, relished in it. They would often cuddle on the chaise to watch films, or she would give him pets, or he would play with her hair. When he was here, they were almost always touching in some way. It was almost unconscious, but it filled a hole in both of them that neither even knew was there.

"You don't anymore?" he asked, trying to deny the pang he felt.

"Hmm... I don't know. I'm starting to think that maybe I don't really know him. Not _really_ , you know? Like, we're friends, but I've been in love with him almost from day one. But how can it be love if you don't really know a person? I think maybe I was just infatuated."

"Just a pretty-boy model then?" Chat asked, and with her back to him, she didn't see his glum expression. She shook her head, quick to deny.

"I fell for his kindness and generosity, his humility and his loyalty to his friends. Mostly though, I fell in love with his laugh," she let out a giggle herself. "Who does that? Who falls in love with a laugh?"

Chat joined in with her laughter, suddenly self conscious as he did so. He quickly stopped, then chided himself for being silly.

"What would you say if Ladybug was sat right here as a civilian?" Marinette asked, suddenly feeling bold.

Chat Noir looked at her, taking in her freckled nose and clear blue eyes, seeing her almost as if for the first time. He didn't need to even think about it.

"I love you."

Marinette edged closer, keeping her eyes fixed on his. Chat couldn't even blink to break the contact. He felt completely spellbound by the moment. Almost as if trying not to startle him, Marinette slowly drew closer to his face, flicking her eyes down to his lips before looking back into his bright green orbs. His adam's apple bobbed in his throat. Gently, she placed her lips on his, her kiss light and fleeting.

"I love you too, Chaton."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a couple of requests for a continuation so here it is. I hope you like it

Her lips were the flutter of a butterfly's wing against his and then they were gone, the sensation in his stomach leading him to believe that the butterflies had passed from her to him, taken up residence and multiplied.

"I love you too, Chaton."

Those words leaving those lips. He hadn't noticed before, he hadn't missed it, because he didn't realise it was there to miss, but her words were like oxygen to his starved lungs. He could finally breathe and it was the most glorious sensation.

Marinette loved him.

He had been coming here for months, her friendship sustaining his desperate need for acceptance. Chat Noir had believed that being her friend was all that he needed, all that he wanted, but he was wrong. _This_. This was... words failed him. And she had confessed that she had a crush on his alter-ego as well. Not that she knew that. But she decided it wasn't love because she didn't know _all_ of him.

It was quite funny actually, when you thought about it.

She loved both sides of him without even realising and the knowledge of this was overwhelming. What had he done in a past life that meant he deserved the love of this amazing, perfect woman? A woman he didn't allow himself to realise that he loved until she said the words to unlock his heart.

_I love you, Chaton._

Wait, that wasn't quite right. What was it she had said? I love you... too? But he had been talking to an imaginary...

Chat's brain shut down.

Marinette sat patiently, watching different emotions chase their way across his face. He seemed otherwise immobile and after two solid minutes of silence, Marinette picked up her knitting needles and continued with her work, the steady, rhythmic click of the metal distracting her from the unmoving superhero. She would just wait him out. He obviously needed time to process. No reason not to finish the Ladybug themed socks that she was knitting him while he was otherwise occupied.

Eventually he seemed to wake up from his trance.

"You're..."

Marinette smiled and nodded while putting her knitting once more to the side.

"And you..."

Her smile only grew brighter as she reached for his hand.

"And I..."

Marinette sighed in fond exasperation.

"I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Ladybug, love you Chat Noir," she iterated, just to be sure that the point made it home. Now that she had declared her feelings for him, she felt as if a weight had lifted from her. She had her kitty and everything was perfect.

"Adrien," he whispered, and she only just caught the word as it fell from his lips.

"What about Adrien? I told you, it was just a silly crush. I was stupid to think it was love. This," and she indicated the two of them. "This is real."

Chat shook his head. She hadn't understood, but then, why would she? Who would ever suspect that mild-mannered Adrien Agreste was really the flirty, sarcastic, punny Chat Noir?

"No. My name. It's Adrien," he explained, and Marinette frowned slightly.

"Huh, that's weird. What are the chances that both boys that I liked would be called Adrien? I suppose it's not that uncommon a name. It suits you, actually," she babbled. It was a little awkward to confess her feelings to one and be reminded of the other. She did still have a small crush on the model after all. A crush she would get over now the she and Chat, no _Adrien_ had confessed to each other.

Chat chuckled. This would actually be fun. Revenge for the way she had revealed her own identity. He leant forwards and pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss, allowing his to linger slightly and sighed happily as she melted into him. His fingers ran through her hair, loose from where he had been playing with it. He didn't know what had prompted her to ask about his crush that night, out of all the nights he had been there, but he was glad she had.

Finding his lady had come without fanfare. It hadn't been dramatic. There was no post-battle accidental reveal. But then, this was better, he thought to himself. He had finally confessed his love and it had been returned. It couldn't have been more perfect. The fact that it was Marinette all this time meant the guilt he hadn't even realised he had been harbouring melted away completely.

He pulled back slightly and shivered at the feel of her breath panting across his lips.

"Keep your eyes closed," he instructed. She did as he asked, sitting patiently, if a little uncertainly. "Plagg, claws in," he murmured before kissing her once again, this time a little more passionately, his gloved fingers cupping her cheeks.

There was a tingle in the air as the magic washed over him and Marinette could feel with a small amount of fascination as material faded to the warm press of skin against her face. It made her feel oddly exposed, knowing that she was kissing an unmasked Chat Noir. The boy in front of her could be anyone in Paris. It had never really occurred to her that even though she _knew_ the boy before her, she didn't actually know who he was in real life. It was a little scary. All she had to do was open her eyes. What if she did know him in civilian life? Would that make it better?

Slowly, hesitantly, Marinette broke away from his lips and sucked air into her lungs, desperately trying to draw courage in the action.

Then she opened her eyes.

Wide.

Her mouth quickly followed suit, hanging open in a shocked, silent scream. She scrambled backwards on the chaise, forgetting in her current state of mind that the far side was open without the security of an arm to ensure the inevitable didn't happen. With a shriek, she tumbled onto the floor and all Adrien could see was her feet, still propped up on the cushion.

He would have laughed. The bubble of mirth even made its way to his lips but he stifled it, lunging forward to check that she was alright. At the same time, Marinette jumped up, an embarrassed tide of colour washing over her face. It was made worse when their simultaneous actions caused their heads to collide painfully.

"Ow," she whimpered, rubbing the spot on her forehead and looking at the blonde model through one eye. Adrien was probing his own forehead, but despite this, he wore a wide grin on his face.

The bump to her head went a long way to getting her over her shock, but it didn't help the stutter that came out of her lips.

"A-A-Adrien?"

His smile gentled and he reached out a hand to help her back on to the seat. She only hesitated for a moment before she put her hand into his. She shouldn't be shy, she had just been kissing him. Holding his hand was fairly tame in comparison. But it hadn't been Adrien Agreste before.

Well, it had. Obviously, but still...

"That's what I said, wasn't it?"

She nodded mutely.

Her eyes met his and she was lost for a moment, drinking in all the little details of him and matching them to what she knew of Chat Noir. Internally she was laughing hysterically at herself. And to think, she didn't think she knew Adrien well enough to actually be in love with him.

"Adrien Agreste."

This time the words weren't a question but a whispered affirmation that what she was seeing with her own two eyes was actually the truth. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he let his happiness shine out. Entwining their fingers, he drew her closer.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," he whispered back, his lips mere centimetres away from hers. He leaned forward to capture her lips again, keeping his eyes open to the last second, gauging her reaction now that she knew. His heart thumped hard in his chest as he watched her eyes flutter closed and she leant forward to meet him in the kiss.

It was sweet and it was soft and they both tried to convey all the emotion they were feeling through the press of their lips. Marinette's lips were slightly swollen when they broke apart and Adrien was pleased to see the blush dusting across her cheeks prettily. He had always thought she was beautiful but in this moment she was breathtaking.

"I love you," he whispered and her eyes opened, blinking dazedly at him before a soft smile graced her lips.

"I love you, too."

Pulling away with a smile, he shifted back in the chaise, turning her around and settling her back against his chest again. Placing a peck on her neck where it peeked out from the edge of her top, Adrien settled against the cushions and reached for her hair again.

Blushing furiously, Marinette sat still for a moment, enjoying the sensations of his fingers in her hair without the gloves to separate them. Despite the alien sensation of uncovered skin, the action was soothing and she felt herself relaxing into it with a sigh of contentment. Wordlessly she picked up her needles and the ball of red wool and allowed herself to sink into the steady rhythm of metal against metal.

They might have a lot to talk about, but for now, this was comfortable and familiar. It was just her and Chat. They were best friends. They knew each other, completely and utterly, and it was effortless. For now, this was perfect.


End file.
